45 Small Business Customer Service Statistics That Justify a Strategy Shift

Once you’ve got a customer service strategy in place, it’s tempting to stick with it, even when it’s not bringing the results you’d hoped for. Strategizing takes time, research, and a thorough analysis of past results. But some recent small business customer service statistics we’ve compiled may be enough to change your mind and inspire you to make the strategic changes you’ve been considering.

These small business customer service statistics are not just abstract numbers or distant academic theories with no real-world applications. They’re direct results of research and case studies done by analyzing small and medium businesses just like yours.

These important customer service statistics carry big implications and deserve your full attention as a business owner.

45 Important Small Business Customer Service Statistics

If you’re a business owner, you really can’t afford to ignore these small business customer service statistics in your strategy.

80% of Americans believe smaller companies place more emphasis on customer service than their larger counterparts.

67% of customers say they hung up out of frustration in the last year when they couldn’t talk to a real person after calling customer service.

3 out of 5 Americans say they’d try a new brand or company if it meant a better customer service experience.

80% of companies believe they deliver “superior” customer service…

…but only 8% of their customers said they agreed. Discrepancy!

75% of customers say “It takes too long to reach a live agent” when calling customer service.

78% of consumers have decided against a purchase because of a poor service experience.

That dissatisfaction doesn’t fade, either – 91% of unhappy customers say they won’t willingly shop at the offending business again.

But 70% of the time, if you can fix the problem or resolve a complaint in the customer’s favor, they will do business with you again.

You don’t always know when customers aren’t digging your business. For every customer who actually complains, 26 other customers decide to keep their complaints to themselves.

That’s good news for small business owners, because it’s 6-7 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than to keep a current one.

It’s not only more expensive to acquire new customers, but you’ve only got a 5-20% probability of selling to a new prospect…

…while you have a 60-70% probability of selling to an existing customer. That’s an undeniable reason to focus on creating loyalty.